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In Congress This Week – April 10, 2017

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Congress is on a two-week recess for Easter. No time to rest!
Here are the areas to keep up pressure. Choose one or two and call your Representative or attend a rally/march.

1) Continue to insist on independent investigation of Trump’s ties with Russia.
2) Opposing any health care legislation that would punish older folks, women, children and people with lower income etc.
3) Insisting that Trump release his tax returns/cease conflicts of interest
4) Reminding Trump that he needs congressional approval to go to war.   [Read more…]

Protest Muslim Ban 2.0 – San Diego Airport

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EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION!!

Donald Trump just signed The Muslim Ban 2.0. He calls it “fantastic”…

It is just as repulsive and as unconstitutional as the first one. We need to come together NOW!! Let us unite together and SEND THE MESSAGE THAT MUSLIMS AND REFUGEES ARE WELCOME HERE!!!

We will be meeting (6:30pm) at terminal two! Our theme is NO BAN NO WALL.   [Read more…]

Top 10 Companies to Boycott Because of Trump Products or Money

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There is a nation-wide group that is organizing a boycott of companies that carry Trump products, or are owned by Trump or have other relationships with him. It’s call #GrabYourWallet and they believe economic push-back by American citizens and others is a very valid form of protest.

Their campaign has already been going on for nearly 4 months now and it has achieved some successes. Here is how they describe themselves and their history:

The #GrabYourWallet movement tracks & boycotts retailers that sell Trump family products as well as corporate leaders who enabled the political rise of the Trump family through fundraising and/or endorsements.

  [Read more…]

Campaign Against Labor Leader for Sexual Harassment Charges Heats Up – Protest to Call for Mickey Kasparian’s Resignation – Wed., Jan. 25th

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By Staff / The OB Rag

The campaign against San Diego labor leader Mickey Kasparian is heating up, as a protest calling for his resignation as head of the local labor council is being held today, Wednesday, Jan. 25th at 6pm outside a labor delegates meeting.

Three women have filed gender discrimination, sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuits against Kasparian, the president of UFCW Local 135, who also sits as the President of the Labor Council.

Sandy Naranjo filed a gender discrimination lawsuit after being unjustly fired. Retired co-worker Isabel Vasquez filed a sexual harassment claim alleging sexual misconduct. And current UFCW employee Anabel Arauz filed a retaliation/discrimination claim against the union, Kasparian and secretary-treasurer (and current San Diego Unified School Board President) Richard Barrera.

Supporters of the three women are holding the demonstration today. They will be holding signs in support of Sandy, Isabel & Anabel and will be calling on San Diego Labor Council Delegates to show public support for these women and to demand the resignation of Mickey Kasparian.   [Read more…]

San Diego Representatives Wonder: Where Do We Go from Here?

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Laura Fink remarked, “There were twelve women in the history of the world that have been on a ballot and won a democratically elected head of state or head of government position. That’s twelve. Seventy total if you count the Prime Ministers, but twelve that have had their name on a ballot and won.

“I don’t think we know the implications of gender in this race or their degree. I think that they’re massive. The consistency among those twelve women: almost all of them were called iron ladies. They all had powerful husbands. They were all fairly disliked and they were all political insiders.

“I’ll just leave you with this. You guys do the math and see if we require something of Hillary Clinton that we now dislike about her.”   [Read more…]

San Diego 2016 Progressive Voter Guide

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The editors of the San Diego Free Press and OB Rag are pleased to present our 2016 General Election Progressive Voter Guide.

We believe this is a historic election, one that will set the course of the United States for decades to come. If there ever was an election where voting was important — this is it.

The candidacy of Donald Trump is no accident. It is a consequence of decades of building a constituency for a market-driven political economy by capitalizing on fear, bias, and ignorance.

The ballot this year is long and complicated. Not everything is as it seems. Practitioners of deception have deliberately crafted personas and propositions in a manner that trick people into voting against their best interests. There are an equal number of voting decisions to be made on less-than-perfect candidates and causes.

We tried not to let perfect be the enemy of good in our decision making.   [Read more…]

Activist-Photographer Fred Lonidier’s Photos of 1972 Anti-War Protest Part of Museum of Contemporary Arts Exhibit

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Staff / OB Rag

Way back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, there were very active social movements stirring in San Diego – and across the country. Here in San Diego, from the student-based anti-Vietnam war movement to episodes of local labor struggles, there was always this one guy whom some considered the “movement photographer” on the scene. And it was Fred Lonidier, with his long-lens camera dangling from his neck, always there to record it all with his lens.

There was one particular and historic event in May of 1972 where 88 students and supporters were arrested for peacefully sitting down in front of the local Naval District HQ in protest of the Vietnam war. A good number of anti-war activists from OB were there that day, as OB was a center of anti-war activity in those heady days.   [Read more…]

San Diego Free Press Takes Home Nine SPJ Awards

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As we enter our fourth year here at the San Diego Free Press, there could be no greater gift than to be the platform that allows eight volunteer writers worthy recognition among a Society of Professional Journalists. We are intensely proud to be working with these incredibly talented and passionate people.

The San Diego Free Press itself was also recognized for its role in online journalism.

The awards are as follows:   [Read more…]

1972: Early History of the OB Rag – Ocean Beach’s Underground Newspaper

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Staff: The history of the OB Rag will be the subject of a presentation at the next OB Historical Society’s monthly gig. That will be Thursday, June 16th at the P.L. United Methodist Church, 1984 Sunset Cliffs Blvd, 92107. The presentation will be by current OB Rag Editor Frank Gormlie. In light of that, we thought it would be cool and appropriate to publish some more history of the original OB Rag, OB’s underground newspaper of the 1970s. The following recounts the 2nd anniversary of the first OB Rag.

By Fall of 1972, it was the OB Rag’s second birthday – the beginning of its third year, and the community-wide effort to develop alternative institutions was in full swing.

The OB Community School was a year old. A childcare center had arisen among needy parents who were assisted by activists. The OB People’s Food Store had opened in a storefront.

And finally a new grassroots urban planning organization was in the process of forming, which eventually paved the way for a community frontal attack on the developer-driven Precise Plan.

Again, the Rag was on the front lines promoting all of these alternatives, as many of the paper’s staff were involved in these efforts.By now, the paper had taken on more a “professional” look; it was printed on newsprint with 16 pages – for a while it even had justified columns – but usually the text was simply typed out on typewriters. It had more photos and local news, along with poetry and artwork by local residents.   [Read more…]

Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry’s Dishes Up Some Ice Cream for Bernie in San Diego

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Actress Rosario Dawson* will be at two of today’s events

By Staff

Ben Cohen of Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream will be campaigning for Senator Bernie Sanders at UCSD at noon today and in Hillcrest at 2:30. He will be joined by Black Men for Bernie at the Valencia Park Market at 3:30. Ben will be dishing up free ice cream and explaining why he and Jerry are feeling the Bern. As Ben says “Just like there’s nothing is so unstoppable as a flavor whose time has finally come, there’s nothing as unstoppable as a leader whose time has finally come”.
  [Read more…]

We Will Show Trump the Beautiful Door to Get-The-Hell-Out-Of-San-Diego

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By San Diego Free Press and OB Rag Editors

We anticipate that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump will visit San Diego during the California presidential primary campaign.

We at the San Diego Free Press and OB Rag will join with other San Diegans during his campaign stops in our city in expressing our adamant opposition to the racist, xenophobic and misogynist policies espoused by Trump.   [Read more…]

ACLU, 26 Groups Call on Department of Justice to Investigate San Diego Police Department

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The ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, along with 26 civil rights, social service organizations, and law firms today asked the Federal government for an investigation into the SDPD’s use of force when encountering people living with mental illness.

An inquiry by the ACLU, following the police shooting of a mentally ill man holding a pen, and the district attorney’s decision not to press charges against the officer, revealed what they believe was a disturbing pattern and practice of improperly handling incidents with people with mental illness or who are experiencing a mental health crisis by SDPD personnel.

The series of incidents detailed in the ACLU letter to the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division point to a questionable use of lethal force, in numerous incidents, which appear to have been unnecessarily escalated with tragic results.   [Read more…]

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